How to fix 404 PAGE NOT FOUND Error on a WordPress Website

Introduction

Sometimes it happens that you press on some of the links on your WordPress website and they give you 404 page not found error. Most usually it happens when a website is transferred to a different location however it’s possible that this happens almost randomly sometimes. This tutorial explains how to fix this error in the easiest way.

What you’ll need

Step 1 — Logging into WordPress dashboard

Navigate to your WordPress dashboard (usually admin area can be accessed using http://yourdomain/wp-admin) and enter your credentials to access it.

Step 2 — Navigating to Settings->Permalinks

On the left side, there is a Dashboard menu. Press on Settings button and select Permalinks there.

Step 3 — Selecting a DIFFERENT Common Settings radio button

Now you need to select any URL type on the Common Settings. It’s not important which type to select however it cannot be the one currently in use (it’s recommended to write down the current URL type as you will need it for the next step). Press the button when this is done.

[In this example URL type Day and name is used so I have selected a different one – Post name]

Step 4 — Selecting the previously used Common Settings radio button

Now you need to revert the changes which were made. Simply select the radio button (URL type) on the Common Settings to the one you were using on your website or wish to use in the future. Press the button again.

(In this example URL type Post name was selected temporarily so now it is changed back to Day and name)

Conclusion

If everything was done according to the steps provided in this tutorial, links on your WordPress website should be fixed now. You can enter your website and try to navigate to every link or menu created. All of them should open without 404 page not found error. This is the most simple method to recreate corrupted links on every version of WordPress CMS.